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One year on from the Girl Summit: are we any closer to ending child marriage?

Annet, 17-years-old, Western Uganda: "I have been out of school for over a year now. I was here at home doing nothing so one of the evenings I met a man who promised to provide for me. A few weeks later I was pregnant and I went to live with him.” Picture: Rebecca Vassie/Girls Not Brides. All rights reserved.

Working on a taboo subject can be isolating and demoralising and, as evidenced by the experience of some Girls Not Brides members focused on ending child marriage within their communities, even life-threatening. Until a few years ago, child marriage was such …

How is Ebola affecting FGM in Sierra Leone?

The UK is working with the UN, the World Health Organisation and the wider international community to combat Ebola. Picture: Save the Children

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone is shrouded in great secrecy and mysticism. It usually takes the form of removal of the clitoris, sometimes using razor blades, penknives and even broken glass. It is at the …

Girls can drive development

Girls participate in a mentoring session in Niamey, part of the Action for Adolescent Girls initiative, in June 2014. Picture: UNFPA/Satvika Chalasani

Adolescent girls can play an enormous role in bringing about sustainable development. But for too long their rights and potential have been overlooked by world leaders, and this has held back development and equality. At last international momentum is building …

Collaboration and empowerment: together we can end FGM in a generation

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a human rights abuse. The practice seriously damages the physical and mental health of women and girls around the world, and can even cause death. When I began my African Well Woman’s Clinic at Guy’s …

Ending child marriage in Bangladesh: girls not brides

Young Bangladeshi girls holding text books. Picture:GMB Akash/Panos

Imagine your life if you were married at 15, against your will, to an abusive husband. It’s the same for almost all the women you know. Your education came to an abrupt end once you were married, and you’re not …

Why DRC’s youth need to take a stand to empower girls' lives

In DRC half the female population aged 15 to 24 are illiterate. Only 10% of girls reach some secondary level of education. Picture: DFID DRC

The Girl Summit 2014 is an important global campaign for DRC, where an estimated 39% of girls are married between the ages of 15 and 18  – and probably younger in rural areas. And that figure needs caveating with the …